Royal Backing For Injured Servicemen's Dakar Rally
Challenge

LONDON – Nov 8, 2012: Race2Recovery, a group of severely injured
soldiers aiming to become the first disability team to complete the Dakar
Rally, has been awarded the first ever grant from the Endeavour Fund, set
up by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince
Harry, it was announced today.

The Endeavour Fund has been created by The Royal Foundation to enable
more wounded and injured servicemen and women to take part in expeditions
and sporting challenges as part of their recovery. The Fund will offer seed
funding for new endeavours and will help emerging initiatives with advice,
hands on support and mentoring.

Race2Recovery, sponsored by Land Rover, is a rally team racing to
inspire those who are injured, disabled or facing adversity by being the
first team of predominantly injured servicemen to complete the formidable
Dakar Rally in South America, January 2013. The team, whose motto is
‘beyond injury – achieving the extraordinary’, consists
of people from all backgrounds and walks of life: injured servicemen,
former soldiers sailors and airmen, and generous people with no military
background who have given their time and commitment to the endeavour.

Through its racing activity, Race2Recovery has committed to raising
money for a charitable cause close to the hearts of its team members
– the Personnel Recovery Centre at Tedworth House. Based in Tidworth,
Wiltshire, Tedworth House is one of five Personnel Recovery Centres that
have been established as part of the Defence Recovery Capability. The
Defence Recovery Capability is an MOD led initiative in partnership with
Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion to ensure wounded, injured and
sick servicemen and women have access to the key resources they need as
they recover. Race2Recovery has already raised well over £100,000 for the
Personnel Recovery Centre at Tedworth House but has its sights set on
achieving a much higher target. Donations to the fundraising campaign can
be made at www.race2recovery.com.

At the launch of the Fund earlier this year, Prince Harry said: “I
am delighted that our Foundation is launching the Endeavour Fund. The Fund
will support injured Servicemen and women in overcoming physical and
psychological challenges with dignity, pride and determination. We must
never forget the terrible price so many of our men and women in uniform
have paid - and continue to pay - to keep us safe and free.

“My comrades-in-arms across the Armed Forces are fighters by
definition, fighters by nature. The Endeavour Fund aims to reignite that
fighting spirit, and inspire those who have served their country to go on
and achieve great things.”

Captain Tony Harris, one of Race2Recovery’s rally drivers who is a
below the knee amputee as a result of injuries suffered while serving in
Afghanistan, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that, through
The Royal Foundation’s Endeavour Fund, The Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge and Prince Harry have shown such considerable faith in the
Race2Recovery project.

“The financial backing that the Endeavour Fund is providing will
enable us to realise our dreams of becoming the first disability team to
compete in the Dakar Rally. Not only that, but the Foundation has
recognised that our campaign goes further than just the racing activity,
and that we’re aiming to inspire other people who may be injured,
sick or facing adversity. By helping us secure the immediate future of our
racing activity, we now hope we can increase awareness of Race2Recovery
and, in turn, increase our fundraising activity, directly benefitting our
country’s injured servicemen and women.”

Nick Booth, Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation, said: “We are
extremely proud to support Race2Recovery by making the team the first
recipient of a grant from our Endeavour Fund. The grant is a just reward
for the passion and dedication that they have shown to both their racing
activity and also their fundraising drive. The team is proving that,
despite some of the challenges they may have faced individually, their
lives are about their abilities, not their disabilities. We hope their
actions continue to inspire people who may be facing similar challenges and
we wish them well on their aim to become the first disability team to
complete the Dakar Rally.”

The Dakar Rally, formerly known as ‘The Paris-Dakar’, is an
annual off-road desert race organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The
race is considered the ultimate driving, mechanical and navigational test
with only 40% of all competitors completing the course. Since 2009, the
race has switched to South America, with the Dakar 2013 starting in Lima,
Peru on 5thJanuary and finishing, via Argentina, in Santiago, Chile on 20th
January.

Race2Recovery has created a capable and competitive rally raid team from
scratch in only 12 months. The team’s challenge first came to public
attention when the early stages of their project were featured on
BBC’s Top Gear programme, back in 2011. In early 2012, the team
secured Land Rover as a principal sponsor, providing the injured servicemen
not only with funds to help fulfill their aims, but with focused training
in Morocco with experienced all-terrain specialists in un-modified Land
Rover Defenders. In March this year the team finished an impressive 10th
place in their first competition - Morocco’s 2012 Tuareg Rally.

The Race2Recovery drivers, co-drivers and support team are predominantly
from across the UK, along with several international members including
Dakar legend Pierre De Frenne. The team operates four Land Rover
Defender-based Qt Wildcat race vehicles as well as a 4x4 support truck and
run the project in their spare time. During the Dakar Rally, the four race
vehicles will race in two pairs, supporting each other across the gruelling
course, whilst the support truck also tackles the race and ensures it is on
hand for any of the four Qt Wildcat cars. The fleet will also consist of
two 8x8 support trucks, providing the team’s service areas, as well
as three Land Rover Discovery support cars to ferry the mechanics and team
management. A conventional day will see the racers spend over 10 hours per
day in their Qt Wildcat racers, covering anywhere between 500 and 800km a
day, largely off road, at speeds of up to 120mph.

The 18-strong logistical and mechanical team will follow a separate
liaison route but the journey is arduous for them too. Most of the
mechanics will only sleep for a couple of hours each night and the support
fleet, as well as the race vehicles, needs to be looked after. The team
will sleep in small pop-up tents or, if the racers don't make it through
the dunes, then they will sleep with space blankets under the stars.

Those members of the team that have been wounded in combat have a huge
variety of injuries - some have injuries that are more apparent than others
but each person has had their life completely changed. Whether dealing with
missing limbs, spinal and respiratory injuries, or psychological and
fragmentation injuries, each has resolved to prove that their injury will
not stop them completing the toughest race on the planet.

All charitable money that is donated to Race2Recovery by the public or
companies goes to support the Personnel Recovery Centre at Tedworth House
and sits completely separately from the team's racing activity (which is
paid for by personal contribution and corporate sponsorship alone). The
team is still seeking additional financial backing to help with the
significant costs associated with its racing activity and is keen to speak
to any interested companies or individuals.

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